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Monday, 18 August 2014

Two Minutes With... Bristol Rovers

Last Tuesday evening saw us face our first opponents at
The Hive, with recently relegated Bristol Rovers the visitors. In the opening
instalment of Two Minutes With, Henry Burridge (@HJBurridge) gives his thoughts.

I grabbed a ride with a few friends. The traffic was
surprisingly light and we ended up reaching The Hive about 5 o'clock!

What
did you make of The Hive?

I thought it was a tidy little ground, if unspectacular.
Getting there so early, we popped in the main bar beforehand and I was really
impressed; I can't remember a bar at a football stadium that looks that good! With
the other pitches and facilities around the ground itself, it's a great set-up
for a lower division club.

If
you went to Underhill, how did The Hive compare?

My dad grew up five minutes down the road from Underhill,
so it always had a sense of nostalgia for me. It's always a shame to see
grounds like that go as they have more character than modern replacements, and
more so considering the way Barnet were forced out.

The
Match

What
did you make of the game?

From our perspective, it was pretty poor – we never got
going in the first half and left too much to do after the break. I thought
Barnet played some good football and a few Rovers fans have underestimated the
quality of the Conference.

Who
(from either side) impressed you?

John Akinde, sadly. Being a former Bristol City player -
not to mention a poor loan signing for us - I could've bet my overdraft on him
scoring. He took his goal really well and showed a lot of strength against our
centre backs.

Who
(from either side) could have done better?

Our manager, Darrell Clarke. He changed the formation and
a number of the players from a reasonable display against Grimsby in our
opening game. I'd imagine Will Puddy, who was making his debut in goal for us,
will be disappointed with the second goal as well.

Post-match

Was
the score line a fair reflection on the game?

Yep, we were too slow in possession and made too many
poor decisions. You can tell that we had a disjointed pre-season. I can only
remember us giving Graham Stack one proper test all night.

Who
do you play next and how do you think you’ll do?

We lost 2-1 to Altrincham on Saturday and Clarke made a
load of changes again. The goals we conceded were shocking and the result has
really hit the fans hard; it's stirred up a lot of the unrest from last season
again. We've got Telford at home this weekend and desperately need a result to
get supporters back onside, although that might be a slow process.

Ratings

Price
of match day ticket

5/10 - £17 for a standard end terrace always looks a bit
steep, but it's the same at most grounds now. I'm going to miss getting student
tickets this season...

Purchases
made at the ground

10/10 - I ordered myself a bacon baguette from the main
bar and was stunned to find it freshly cooked, packed full of meat and great
value for money. Never eaten anything better at a football ground! Finding they
serve Stowford Press was also a pleasant surprise.

View

7/10 - We stood at the back of the terrace, which wasn't
too high but still nice and tight to the pitch.

Quality
of football

6/10 - From our point of view it wasn't great, but Barnet
looked a tidy side, even though we were resigned to the contest being basically
over at half time.